SUMMARY OF ESP METHODS AND PRINCIPLES
OF COMMUNICATIVE METHODOLOGY
BY
ELLY ROSALINA SUSANTI / NIM 190221768844
The communicative approach is often thought to be closely related to ESP
(Strevens, 1988, Hutchinson & Waters, 1984). Howsever, the situation for both
general English and ESP requires an effective eclectic approach rather than
adherence to a specific teaching method. No wonder ESP is said to have adopted
communicative methodology.
In 'communicative methodology' we try to be 'more communicative'. That is
to say, even though it may be impossible to achieve 'real communication', we
should attempt to get close to “real communication” in our classrooms.
Nunan (1991:279) lists five basic characteristics of Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT) :
 An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target
language.
 The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.
 The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on the
language but also on the learning process itself.
 An enhancement of the learner's own personal experiences as important
contributing elements to classroom learning.
 An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation
outside the classroom.
It is based on the assumptions that in CLT, (a) learners learn a language
through using it to communicate, (b) authentic and meaningful communication
should be the goal of classroom activities, (c) fluency is an important dimension of
communication, (d) communication involves the integration of different language
skills, and e) learning is a process of creative construction and involves trial and
error (http://wikigogy.org/Method_and_approach).
Communicative Activities
Wesche and Skehan (2002:208) describe as communicative activities:
 Activities that require frequent interaction among learners or with other
interlocutors to exchange information and solve problems.
 Use of authentic (non-pedagogic) texts and communication activities
linked to “real-world” contexts, often emphasizing links across written and
spoken modes and channels.
 Approaches that are learner centered in that they take into account
learners’ backgrounds, language needs, and goals and generally allow
learners some creativity and role in instructional decisions (p. 208)
In its purest form, a communicative activity is an activity in which there is:
 A desire to communicate : there must be either an 'information gap' or an
'opinion gap' or some other reason to communicate,
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A communicative purpose : the questions used in communication are
genuine information, not the artificial ones.
A focus on language content not language forms
A variety of language used : in normal communication, we do not repeatedly
use the same language forms, no teacher intervention no control or
simplification of the material,
No teacher intervention in classroom communicative activities
No Control or Simplification of the Material : in the real world, there are no
graded or simplified materials as prompts for communicative activities.
According to Littlewood (1981), the contributions of communicative activities to
language learning include the following :
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They provide ‘whole task practice’, i.e. the total skill;
They improve motivation;
They allow natural learning;
They can create context which supports learning.
Principles of Communicative Methodology
Morrow (1981) gave about five principles that might help us to see that our
students can use the language they learn in order to communicate. They include:
 Know what you are doing: every lesson shoul have ‘something’ is
communicatively useful.
 Every communicative method should operate with stretches of language
above the sentence level and should also operate with real language in real
situation.
 The purpose of communication in real life is to bridge this gap. To the
process of ‘information gap’ Hutchinson and Waters (1987) add media,
reasoning, memory, jigsaw, opinion and certainty as other types of gap.
 Choice is another crucial characteristic of communication.
 To learn it, do it: Although the teacher can help, advise and teach, only the
learners can learn.
Added to Morrow’s (1981) principle are the following:
 Learners errors are tolerated as they are asset in the development of
communicative skills: errors are used as a base for language teaching.
 Communicative Syllabus Design: It is the learner’s needs that determine the
syllabus pattern to be adopted. It is recommended that an eclectic approach
be adopted in drawing up syllabus in ESP.
 There is negotiation of meaning and two-way communication exists in class.
 The teacher plays the role of a facilitator or guide and no longer controls
class activities.
 Communicative language teaching is learner-centred, that is, the learners
are active participants in the learning and teaching process.
 Class Management: Class work is organized in group and in pairs. Also, peer
supervision and co- operation are encouraged.
CONCLUSION
CLT methodologies embrace an eclectic approach to teaching, which means
they borrow teaching practices from a wide array of methods that have been found
effective and that are in accordance with principles of learning as suggested by
research findings in research in SLA and cognitive psychology. Its open-ended or
principle-based approach allows for a great deal of flexibility, which makes it
adaptable to many individual programmatic and learner needs and goals.
SUMMARY OF SOME ATTRIBUTES OF ESP METHODOLOGY
Problem Solving
Problem solving can be seen as a way into new work, an opportunity to
apply acquired knowledge and a rationale for gaining new skills and knowledge
using an already acquired knowledge. Some of problem solving activities include
teaching learners how to get started, sorting of data, seeking patterns, linking to
what you know, trying out theories, testing theories, etc. A problem could be used
to introduce a topic and get pupils interested in what you want them do.
Kinds of Problems
 Problems that have a single step and one solution, e.g. what two colours do
you combine to create an orange?
 Problems that have many steps and a solution.
 Open ended problems – also known as investigations. They offer
opportunities for learners to make decisions and pose questions, decide
which line of action to pursue. They can arrive at different solutions and
discover more questions.
Task-based Activities
In Communicative approach, the classroom activities are task-based. Tasks
must be relevant to the real world language needs of the student. That is, the
underlying learning theory of task based and communicative language teaching
seems to suggest that activities in which language is employed to complete
meaningful tasks, enhances learning.
According to Ellis (2000), for interactive tasks to be successful, it should
contain elements that:
 are new or unfamiliar to the participants;
 require learners to exchange information with their partners or group
members;
 have a specific outcome;
 involve details;
 centre on a problem, especially an ethical one, such as deciding in a small
group who should take the last spot in a lifeboat, a nuclear physicist or a
pregnant woman; and
 involve the use of naturally occurring conversation and narrative discourse.
Teachers, using task-based syllabus, are expected to use problem- solving tasks
to provide learners with opportunities to share ideas, build consensus, and explain
decisions about real-life issues important to them.
Collaborative/Integrated Teaching and Learning
The idea of including content of a subject under study into a language
classroom was first introduced in the 1970s by Hutchinson and Waters. They
stated that the content of a subject, for example, economics or management, should
be used for teaching a foreign language. CLIL, for instance, refers to situations
where subjects, or parts of subjects, are taught through a foreign language with
dual-focused aims, namely the learning of content and the simultaneous learning of
a foreign language in which this content is encoded (Marsh, et al, 2001). It is widely
seen as an excellent means of learning a language, and of introducing international
events into the teaching of content subjects.
Collaborative/Team Teaching
It refers to teaching performed by a group of two or more persons assigned
to the same students at the same time for instructional purposes in a particular
subject or combination of subjects; the difference between the two, if any, may be
that collaborative teaching places more focus on shared power than team teaching.
Content-based ESP
Another application of ESP is the Content-Based Instruction (CBI), which
focuses on the teaching of academic English through content knowledge. Language
learning and content of subject matter could be brought together because a foreign
language is most successfully acquired when learners are engaged in its
meaningful and purposeful use. The integration of language and content involves
the incorporation of content material into language classes. Content can provide a
motivational and cognitive basis for language learning since it is interesting and of
some value to the learner (Brewster, 1999).
How does the ESP lecturer establish contact with the content lecturer?
This could be done by seeking the support of the head of the content
department and/or by surveying lecturers to discuss the feasibility of developing
various communication channels such as appointing a liaison person, observing
classes, team teaching, attending departmental meetings, and participating in
student selection interviews.They can also distribute a questionnaire at this time
to content lecturer to find out their views on the particular strengths and
weaknesses of the students, and ways in which the English lecturer might be able
to help.
Advantages of Collaborative Teaching
Cooperative Learning (CL) is the most widely used approach to ESP
teaching and it is potentially beneficial for second language learners in a number of
ways.
 First of all, CL can provide more opportunities for L2 interaction and
improve L2 proficiency (Swain, 2001).
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It can also help students draw on their first language (L1) while developing
L2 skills (Cohen, 1986).
It can also include opportunities for the integration of language and content
learning. Content-based, collaborative and interactive ESP teaching,
therefore, helps both the teacher and students scaffold each other.
Problems of Collaborative Teaching
Teachers often feel uncomfortable embracing a collaborative teaching
model because they do not feel they have been prepared for organizing and
delivering instruction when teaching roles and responsibilities are not defined.
 It requires a great deal of time and effort from teachers.
 It can become inefficient due to differing personalities, different cultures,
different teaching styles.
 There may be unwillingness on the part of some departments to
collaborate, thereby making it difficult for the ESP lecturer to establish
contact.
 ESP lecturer may face the frustrating issue of allocation of hours and formal
scheduling of the English language classes. One of the hardest tasks of the
ESP lecturer is dealing with a lack of formal schedule coordination
(Brennan & van Naerssen, 1998).
Bailey, Dale, and Squire (1992) suggest:
 Teachers should focus on goals rather than personalities to minimize power
struggles.
 Recognizing one another's contributions and setting aside time for planning
on a regular basis are two important factors related to the success of
collaborative teaching.
 Collaborative teaching may be more useful for interactive courses that
require dialogues and discussions than for courses that are receptive and
discrete ̶ skill based.
CONCLUSION
The aim of ESP is to help learners achieve communicative competence in
the target situation. Effective teaching/learning enables learners to be in dialogue,
to collaborate in the composition of knowledge and to share results of their
inquiry. In academic settings, with the help of ESP instructor, cooperative or
collaborative ESP teaching provides the learners with formal schemas of academic
language through academic content they are already familiar with. Teaching
language structures is possible only when it is meaningful for the learners, and
teaching content through L2 is useful only when learners can give feedback in L2,
too.